Beware of txt scams!

Text scams are again doing the rounds as text messages are sent to cellular phones announcing that the subscriber has won in a lottery or raffle because their SIM (subscriber identity module) card number is a winning combination.

A sample scam text message might read:

“Congratulations! Ur sim no. won (P650,000) thru  electronic raffle draw fr: PGMA’s charity foundation w/ Bangko  Sentral ng Pilipinas ‘Handog Pangkabuhayan’! To claim ur prize, cal me now!”

A name also appears in the message together with the cellular phone number and the government agency the person is supposedly connected with.

The message likewise states that the contest is approved by the Department of Trade and Industry, and even shows a DTI Memorandum Order No., series of 2008.

But a check with government agencies revealed that no such contest is being conducted.

In an exclusive interview with The STAR recently, Vicente de Guzman III, chief of the Anti-Fraud and Computer Crime Division (AFCCD) of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), related how syndicate members would scam the victim into depositing a large amount of cash in a bank account.

 “Actually, here at the Anti-Crime and Computer Crime Division, we are flooded with a lot of requests on text scams. And officially, there are also a lot of requests from the AMLAC (Anti-Money Laundering Council). Complainants would say that there are text messages saying they won such amount of money, asking them call up the number and this personality. If you call them up, that would be the bait,” said De Guzman.

“After talking to you on your cellphone, they would make it appear that they have a legitimate business, a scheme. But if you think of it, how can you win if you never joined any contest? And suddenly somebody would text or call you up. If you agree to deposit an amount in a bank account they specified before you claim the prize, then you’ve fallen into their trap,” De Guzman warned, adding that if one wins a contest with a huge prize, its not logical that text messaging will be the only mode to inform the winner about his prize.

De Guzman said that once the victim has deposited the money, he or she can never get the money back or contact the person they have talked to.

“That’s the scam we’ve been talking about. Even I have received these kinds of text messages,” he said. “The best thing you could do is just ignore them.”

De Guzman said one major hindrance in their investigation into text scams is the use of prepaid SIM cards, since there  is no way of knowing who the texter is because prepaid numbers are not registered with any government agency.

Other cases of scams use a combination of the Internet and cellphones, the NBI said.

“We usually try to trace the cellphones they use. The suspects usually contact their victims first through the Internet such as a ‘Friendster’ account, and eventually contact them through their cellphones. We also monitor them through the suspect’s cellphone. Eventually, the victims are told to deposit an amount of money in a bank account. The banks are always cooperative in helping us out in arresting the suspects,” De Guzman said.

The NBI has arrested some suspects with the help of AMLAC. “That was in the past, such as one case in Davao,” he said.

According to De Guzman, only few violations could be cited against suspects in text scams.

Text scams, he said, are supposed to be included in the Cyber Law but at the moment, the applicable law would be the E-Commerce Law (Republic Act No. 8792) since the Cyber Law has yet to be approved by Congress.

De Guzman said that if money is involved (if victims have deposited the money that the suspects asked), the case to be filed would be estafa.

In cases of malicious text messages, charges could be libel. But if it is just a text message with no action taken, he said there is no violation since there is no damage to the victim.

De Guzman added that the NBI coordinates with telecommunications companies in order to trace the suspects.

“We would also be able to know whether the number is prepaid or postpaid,” he said. 

Aside from telecom companies, the NBI also communicates with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which is in charge of telecom activities, and the AMLAC, which handles cases involving bank accounts that need to be traced.

NBI statistics on violations of RA 8792 (E-Commerce Law) for the years 2000 to 2008 revealed the following: year 2000, two cases were received (no case terminated or resolved, and none elevated for prosecution); 2001, 10 cases received  (5 either terminated or resolved and 2  for prosecution); 2002, 7 cases received (3 either terminated or resolved and 2 for  prosecution); and 2003, 21 cases received (2 either  terminated or resolved and 1 for  prosecution).

In 2004, 23 cases received (2 either terminated or resolved, and 1 for prosecution); 2005, 32 cases received (13 either terminated or resolved and 4 for prosecution); 2006, 71 cases received (12 either terminated or resolved and none for prosecution); and in 2007, 77 cases received (26 either terminated or resolved and 6 for prosecution).

From January to March 2008, 35 cases were received, with 6 either terminated or resolved and 2  for prosecution.

The statistics involve either crimes committed using cellphones, the Internet, other e-communication devices or a combination of these devices. The statistics do not specify which ones are text scams.

An article in the “IT Law Journal of the Arellano Law School” said that: “In response to the global devastation of computer networks brought about by the ‘I Love You’ virus suspected to have originated from the Philippines, Congress immediately enacted Republic Act No. 8792 (or the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000) on June 14, 2000.”

The “e-Commerce Act” is a law that was hailed by observers as a landmark piece of legislation that finally placed the Philippines on the map of electronic commerce.

The Journal said the Philippines was the fourth country, after Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea, to have a law on e-commerce.

The article said that the law “aims to facilitate domestic and international dealings, transactions, arrangements, agreements, contracts and exchanges and storage of information through the utilization of electronic, optical and similar medium, mode, instrumentality and technology to recognize the authenticity and reliability of electronic documents related to such activities and to promote the universal use of electronic transaction in the government and general public.”